We’re back to regular programs today. Mr. Trebek expressed relief, but for a different reason: He said the college students tire him out! Today’s contestants:
(From left to right; Vito Cortese, Aimee Slater, George Tsuji)
Both George and Vito are software engineers! (Maybe I should have chosen another career?) Vito was also introduced as an Italian translator today. Did they introduce him that way before?
George found the Daily Double three clues in, but not before Aimee missed those first two clues (in The Quotable DeNiro) and George got them right. George, then, had 600, Aimee had -600, and Vito had 0. George wagered 1000 on this clue: “(In Sicilian) ‘To you, she’s beautiful. For me, there’s only my wife and son.'”* I was impressed when George got this. Did you guys know that one? George then missed the next clue in the category, and no one answered the last one.
At the break, Vito had 2600, Aimee had 600, and George and I both had 1600.
During Vito’s interview, he said that he had been doing a crossword puzzle on the plane when he came across (no pun intended) a clue about Alex Trebek! Strangely, I had a weird crossword-related moment later in the game. I had been doing a crossword puzzle before watching Jeopardy!, and had the clue: “Rain forest mammals.” Imagine my surprise when this clue was revealed in You’re Such an Animal: “This agile monkey of the Americas dines on, among other things, the arachnid in its name.”* I’m not sure I’ve heard of the animal in this response before seeing it in the puzzle.
At the end of the Jeopardy round, Vito had 4600, Aimee had 5600, and George had 4200. I had 7800.
I was pleased that the players all chose all the clues in a category about the Yankees (Yankee, No!) first. Although I would’ve called it, Yankees, Yes! Vito found the first Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy round, in They Come in Twos. He had 8600, Aimee had 4400, George had 7800, and I had 13000. Vito wagered 2000 on this clue: “The two main gods of Hinduism are Vishnu and him.”* I answered the same thing as Vito, and we were wrong. I got the next clue in the same category, a triple-stumper, although if I’m being honest I probably did not ring in in time. Here it is: “The 2 main kinds of camels are the one-humped dromedary and this 2-humped Asian species.”*
Vito also found the second Daily Double, in Authors’ Birthplaces. He had 12600, Aimee had 5200, George had 11000, and I had 16200. I knew this one, probably thanks again to crossword puzzles. Vito missed it and lost 1500 on it: “He didn’t have a ‘Sister Carrie’ when he was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1871.”*
Vito, though, as an Italian translator, did luck out when this clue came up in I Learned It in Ballet Class: “A series of quick jumping steps is called this, also the Italian term for the tempo at which the music is playing.”* After the final clue both of the category and of the round, Mr. Trebek was shown standing in front of his podium! He said he just wanted to practice his ballet moves, but a J! message boardie thinks he may have moved in front of the podium if taping was stopped to consider Vito’s response of “The Nutcracker Suite” to this clue: “The final pas de deux is one of the famous dances from this ballet; maybe it’s fitting that its choreographer, Lev Ivanov, died on Christmas Eve, when it’s set.”* Is it just me, or did Mr. Trebek hold his hip after practicing his ballet moves?
The Final Jeopardy category was Communication. My first bachelor’s degree is in that subject! Vito had 9900, Aimee had 6400, George had 13800, and I had 26800. This was the clue: “It was first transmitted by the USS Arapahoe off Cape Hatteras on August 11, 1909.”* (Here’s a hint: The correct response put a Rihanna song in my head!) Aimee got it right and wisely doubled her score. Vito and George got it right, too! Vito wagered 4000 and George wagered 6200, which was enough for the win. We will see George tomorrow.
*The Godfather Part Two, spider monkey, Shiva, Bactrian, Dreiser, allegro, The Nutcracker, S.O.S.